[You have used the Codex of Warrior!]

[Congratulations! All Warrior-class skills, talents, and equipment effects have been amplified by 200%!]

After using the Codex of Warrior, John obtained the corresponding buff.

"The Mage, Assassin, Priest, and Warrior Codices of Classes are all in my hands now.

Only the final Archer Codex of Classes remains."

John took a deep breath, a faint smile appearing on his face.

As long as he collected the last Archer class codex, he would be able to unlock the level cap immediately. With the amount of experience he currently had stored, even instantly rising to Level 100 would pose no problem at all.

And once his level cap was unlocked, his pets, formation spirits, and other related assets would all be able to level up as well.

"Only problem is, clues about the Archer Codex of Classes won’t be easy to find."

John returned to Overlord City and paced back and forth inside the City Lord’s Mansion, pondering his next move.

The channels through which he had obtained the Codices of Classes before could be summed up in three types: auctions, clues that came with dungeons, and information provided by NPCs such as city lords.

Now, he had already exhausted all of these methods. In the short term, it was absolutely impossible for another similar source of clues to appear.

"Looks like I can only put this task aside for now."

John let out a long sigh.

"At the moment, the overall affairs of Zone 5 don’t require me to manage them personally.

The only secret realm that hasn’t been conquered yet also can’t have its upper levels entered due to level restrictions.

If I want to increase my strength, my only option is to visit other zones."

A thoughtful look appeared in John’s eyes.

Ever since obtaining the Pass Permit, he had already visited Zone 4 and Zone 2.

Zone 1 and Zone 3 were the only ones he had yet to visit.

"If I’m going, I’ll choose between these two zones."

After pondering for a moment, John made his decision.

"I’ll go to Zone 1."

At the mention of Zone 1, a cold light flashed in John’s eyes.

In his previous life, his impression of that zone had been anything but good.

The players of that zone worshiped violent resistance against the rules of the game. They carried a deep hatred toward everything within the game world.

Precisely because of this, they had actually developed the best in the game during his previous life.

A group of players had managed to unite and turn against the game NPCs, extracting quest clues and benefits from them.

However, what truly filled John with hatred was the fact that, in his previous life, the players of Zone 1 had placed bounties on his life many times.

On several occasions, John had nearly died because of Zone 1’s bounty orders.

At the time, Zone 1’s bounty orders were capable of making NPCs hunt John down.

John had not known this at first and had nearly been killed by NPCs because of it.

After he finally understood the reason behind it, he began hunting down Zone 1 players in return.

The two sides had long since formed a grudge that could never be resolved.

Even after being reborn, John still clearly remembered the many scenes of them sending people to assassinate him.

Now that he was the number one player on the entire server’s combat power rankings, it was only natural that he should consider repaying the grudge from his previous life.

"Then Zone 1 it is."

A cold smile appeared on John’s face.

With a thought, he acted.

"I want to use the Pass Permit and bind it to Zone 1, Phoenix City!"

[Phoenix City has been bound. You may now travel there freely!]

In the next moment, a flash of white light appeared, and John vanished from where he stood.

...

Phoenix City was the main city with the largest number of players in Zone 1.

The headquarters of their Glory Guild was also located in Phoenix City.

Every day, large numbers of players entered and left the city, creating a constant stream of bustling traffic.

Inside Phoenix City’s teleportation array, John’s figure suddenly appeared.

However, he had already changed his appearance in advance.

Because of that, his arrival at this moment did not attract anyone’s attention.

John walked out of the array and observed most of the players on the streets.

"The development speed of Zone 1 seems pretty fast. Most of the players in this main city are actually already Level 30."

John felt a slight chill in his heart.

Just like in his previous life, the players of Zone 1 understood better than anyone how to use game NPCs to develop quickly.

"But in this life, I won’t let you enjoy yourselves so comfortably."

John quickly blended into the crowd.

He entered a tavern, preparing to gather information on the movements of the guilds in this zone.

John sat down at a table, the sounds of clinking cups and noisy conversation constantly entering his ears.

"Man, the people from Zone 5 are seriously freaks. Last time, even after everything we did, they still managed to snatch away the first-clear rewards."

"Right? But they’re only relying on that John. Without John, they’re nothing."

"No problem. As long as we take down that dungeon this time, so what if they have John?"

Hearing this, John’s heart stirred.

Could Zone 1 be attempting to conquer some especially difficult dungeon?

John continued listening.

"By the way, how far has the progress in that dungeon reached?"

"No idea. The people from Glory Guild seem to be keeping it extremely confidential. I only heard about it from a friend inside."

"Tsk. Hearing you say that, I feel like their progress should be pretty fast."

"Why don’t we go into the dungeon and take a look too? That dungeon doesn’t seem to have a limit on the number of people."

"Forget it. I heard that place is underwater. You need diving items or Drowning Resistance to enter."

Hearing this, John immediately understood.

It seemed that the players of Zone 1 were currently conquering a ruin.

Among all dungeons, only ruin dungeons were the most special, as they came with environmental restrictions.

From the conversation between these two players, John instantly guessed which dungeon the guilds of Zone 1 were currently attempting to conquer.

"Since it’s a ruin, there will definitely be plenty of traces left behind. There’s no need to investigate too deeply. A quick search in the wilderness should be enough to determine its location."

John immediately stood up.

He quickly left Phoenix City and began searching the wilderness for related traces.

John first opened the map and checked the nearest bodies of water around Phoenix City.

Very soon, he found three locations.

"Phoenix Lake has the largest body of water, but it’s very close to the main city. Generally speaking, a ruin wouldn’t be located there."

"Hundred Waters Lake is the farthest from Phoenix City, but its water area is far too small. It’s impossible for it to be there either."

"So only the last option remains: Lake Dawnlight."

John looked toward the north of Phoenix City.

If his guess was correct, then the guilds of Zone 1 were currently inside Lake Dawnlight, conquering this zone’s ruin.

"Since I’m already here, and I just so happen to be missing one more ruin collection, I might as well help you solve it while I’m at it."

John smiled faintly. In the next moment, his figure vanished from where he stood.

...

At the same time, Lake Dawnlight.

As a lake covering over a thousand acres, this place was incredibly rich in water-element resources.

All kinds of water-element equipment sets and water-element skills could be dropped here.

Normally, however, only a thousand or so players who mainly cultivated water-element mage builds would come here to farm monsters in the wild.

But at this moment, the place was packed with dense crowds of people.

From time to time, players injured inside the ruin would be transported out.

Without exception, all of them were members of Glory Guild.

In order to conquer this ruin dungeon, they had been guarding this place for three days and three nights without sleep, taking turns entering to farm monsters and push forward the progress.

And now, they had finally reached the critical stage.